Project Blog

With our new Koni Sports unboxed, it was time to begin the installation process. Before assembly however, a few things needed to be done.

​BumpstopsThe bumpstops off our OEM shocks and springs were in pretty bad shape. So bad that when we opened up the front shock assembly, the original bumpstops were no where to be found. These foam pieces disintegrate over time and must be replaced.

​We actually purchased a brand new set of bumpstops but we quickly discovered that they wouldn't fit over our new Konis. Thankfully for us, we were able to source an almost brand new set of bumpstops from a 2007 Civic Si.

Simply cut the bump stop until it matches the height of OEM.

The center opening is larger and fit over our new Konis without any modifications. Drop the bump stop over the piston and we're all set. Time to mod the dust boot.

Dust bootLet's preface this paragraph with yet another "they don't make em like they used to" tag. The CRX's OEM dust boots are aluminum and as far as we know, Honda no longer ships any of their cars with aluminum dust boots from the factory. Even high end aftermarket suspension kits from companies like Ohlins ship with rubber boots.

​We definitely wanted to reuse them but in order for them to fit over the Koni shock piston, a little drilling would be required.

It's nice to be able to take advantage of fancy drilling equipment when you have an engineer on the team but all you really need is a vice and a drill. Having a machine like this allows for a faster and cleaner trim.

Just make the hole a little bigger and you're all set.

Top HatsIf you decide to replace your factory struts with Koni or any other aftermarket brand, you'll need to reuse your OEM tophats. And in order to fit the OEM tophats over the Koni shock piston (Koni's shock piston is a little thicker than the CRX's stock shock piston), the first step is to swap out the metal sleeve.

We took a hammer and a socket and lightly hammered out the stock metal sleeve.

Koni sleeve on the left and stock sleeve on the right. The size difference is noticeable.

Once the new sleeve is in, the top hat will fit perfectly over the piston.

Here's what the rear strut should look like prior to installing the springs. The quality of this is leaps and bounds better than our previous STR.T kit.

Since we're going to be using our OEM springs, we needed our handy spring compressor to compress the spring to fit over the shock. No air tools here; just good old fashioned elbow grease.

Gotta admit, the black springs over the yellow shocks look pretty darn cool. And unlike the Koni STR.T Suspension kit, the Yellows include a full set of instructions and hardware for a headache free install. Aside from reusing the top hat and modification to the dust boots and bump stops, all additional hardware is included with each shock.

in my book, THAT is the best "upgrade" you can do to restore a crx. Nice job!!!

Reply

Jim

9/28/2016 12:24:53 pm

I also believe that reusing the oem springs and lowering the spring perch on the shock will not necessarily lower the car because of the length of the spring. If anything, it only reduces the tension of the spring. I would think that if you had extended the top hat the same amount you lowered the perch, you would achieve that small drop. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing more updates. Ive got a crx myself that i try to keep pretty.